Real Nappies (Merged Discussion Thread)

freyaluck

I am using the terry squares for my 11 month old son , they are great! And so much cheaper than any other nappy. I think I have spent about £50 in total for 2 childrens worth of nappies, I know people who spend that in a month on disposables.
I bought all my stuff from boots, The nappy nippas you can get are great too, When I used the proper pins I was forever bending them and having to buy new ones, I bought 6 nippas when my son was born and still have them all and they are still working.
frey

Contains_Mild_Peril

I still use old terry nappies as cloths for cleaning and mopping up spillages, too.

ahll wrote:

how many nappies would you need for one baby ?

I suppose it depends how often you wash them, how quickly they'll get dry, etc. You could probably get away with as few as 20. I had about 30 for my son to start with, and got some more later when I found really cheap ones.
I also had an old childcare book which suggested that a baby would only need about half a dozen or so changes of clothes! Ha! What with nappy leakages, puking, and peeing all over the place when I had his nappy off to change it, mine sometimes needed half a dozen changes of clothes in one day.
Btw, a dart sharpener is useful for blunt nappy pins.

ben500

Does anyone still use terrys nappies

No but their chocolates are lovely!

lynneinjapan

Thanks Lillibet, I hadn't seen that thread.

I agree with Susan that it's not feasible to expect nurseries to attempt to implement the same approach, but if you are using a sympathetic childminder then it could be worth a try.

8 staff for 50 children seems a very low ratio - the legal requirements now, if I remember rightly, are one staff member per 3 children for under-2s, 1:4 for age 2-3 and 1:8 for pre-schoolers (who'd mostly be out of nappies anyway).

There's an article on potty training in the current (September 06) Practical Parenting magazine, page 64, which talks about EC being an option. And according to the other thread that Lillibet linked us to, the editor of PP was very critical of the whole idea less than a year ago!

BTW, in case you were wondering, my baby is due next week... but I'm not holding my breath!

Liney_2

I combine using Moltex disposables with 'One Life' washables. I really like the Moltex ones and you can chuck them in your worm composter as they biodegrade (except the tabs).

earthmother

General opinion seems to be that Moltex are best both in performance and eco-friendliness.

We started using them for youngest (5 months), having used Pampers and Huggies for the elder two, and the Moltex actually outperform them in terms of leakage and odour retention, and we're also getting virtually no nappy rash.

Another brand to consider is Bambo (also do pull-up trainer pants) - freebies through Spirit of Nature, but best price to buy is from purebambino.com (and donation to Tommys/Bliss)





As far as biodegradeability is concerned - Moltex take weeks in a composter, months to a few years in landfill (depending on how much air gets to them), but there has yet to be a 'normal' nappy biodegrade - and they've been around over 30 years now :eek:

Weesimba

Our baby is 7 weeks old now and has been using Motherease one size nappies and the velcro wraps since day 1. I have been so impressed by them and would recommend them to anyone. We use biodegradable and flushable liners which grabs the majority of movements. If it is just a piddle you can wash them and reuse. Tried the wraps with poppers but felt the flexibility of the velcro was much better. Just washing at 60 with a bit of white vinegar added and are coming up great. Thankfully the weather has been great and has helped immensely in the laundering so long may it continue. Have a washer drier so on bad days just put on wash then straight on tumble dry last thing at night so they are ready for morning. 20 Nappies and 6 wraps seem to be fine stock wise.

Weesimba

Our baby is 7 weeks old now and has been using Motherease one size nappies and the velcro wraps since day 1. I have been so impressed by them and would recommend them to anyone. We use biodegradable and flushable liners which grabs the majority of movements. If it is just a piddle you can wash them and reuse. Tried the wraps with poppers but felt the flexibility of the velcro was much better. Just washing at 60 with a bit of white vinegar added and are coming up great. Thankfully the weather has been great and has helped immensely in the laundering so long may it continue. Have a washer drier so on bad days just put on wash then straight on tumble dry last thing at night so they are ready for morning. 20 Nappies and 6 wraps seem to be fine stock wise.

hampshirebabe

Hi, not sure if you've bought them yet, but this looks a good idea https://www.nappytrialservice.co.uk you have to pay, but the price is refundable, and you can try loads of different ones for 2 weeks, so you can see which work best. I think there are other sites do the same kind of thing if you look around, and aparently some councils offer a cash back incentive as well, worth looking into.
Good luck
Mary

Sarahsaver

I took washables into hospital with mine. A muslin nappy is usually enough for a newborn.